Judge favors Lakewood in music copyright suit

The secular band that sued Lakewood Church and Joel Osteen for $3 million in damages for allegedly using their music beyond their licensing agreement has had its case dismissed by a federal judge, the Houston Press reported.

Richard Cupolo and John Emanuele, who perform as the band The American Dollar, said Lakewood’s continual use of their song “Signaling Through the Flames” in promotional materials violated copyright and damaged their cred by affiliating them with the church.

“U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison—using British Columbia copyright law, as both parties agreed—found ‘the licensing agreement unambiguously limits perpetual-use Internet rights to those productions created or revised prior to the agreement’s expiration,’” the Houston Press wrote. “He tossed the claims specifically against Osteen and his wife Victoria, but gave the defendants two weeks to amend their suit and pursue some courses of action.”

When the lawsuit was filed in August, Lakewood spokesman Don Iloff explained that the church did not realize their license had expired and offered to renew it, but the band was looking to make big bucks and sued instead.

The band’s lawyer Craft Hughes, with the Houston firm Hughes Ellzey, said it wasn’t about the money, but about being a non-religious, non-political band that had suddenly become affiliated with the largest church in America.